Bor stared at the hole in his boot, through which his big toe was sticking out. The fried creature crunched against his teeth, greasing his trimmed beard.

Zwei had refused his generous offer of a feast of definitely non-poisonous rat-squirrels, and now he tried to distract himself by thinking about the cause and effect of holes in his shoes on a regular basis. Was it a cunning plan of envious people, the tricks of the Gods, the will of the universe, or the fact that he had not bought new boots for ten years. In the beginning it was difficult for him to get comfortable with shopping, but he soon discovered the possibilities of theft. Sobriety in the slums was not held in high esteem, and leaving things anywhere - even very much. It was impossible to boast of these clothes, but the inner feeling of satisfaction warming no worse than a slightly burnt caftan lost by someone in a fight. Or during an orgy...

Zwei was sitting on a rock, chewing dry bread and drinking water from her camping flask, trying to convince Zee to go with them. As if he had a choice.

- “Listen, we'll fix your girlfriend. There is one old man who is well versed in golems . I'm not sure, but he once said that the core is the most important. In return, will you help us a little in the war? Great deal!”

- “I don't want to fight. There seems to be a whole crowd of you. Heroes and heroines, great defenders of justice. Why don't you leave me alone? Just pull yourself together, kill the goddamn lord of darkness or whatever you call him and live in peace!”

Zwei sighed heavily.

- “Trust me, I'm not happy with this either. A boy without combat training, leaving behind only chaos and devastation, not the most desirable ally” - She shook bread crumbs from her knees, took out a quiver and began to check arrows – “But we have no choice. The situation is getting worse every day, we have lost too many people, and the damn gods have set the condition that we can only win together. Understand? Five heroes against evil. That's the only way, or everyone will die. There are no good options here...”

- "So why don't you ask the gods to make you stronger?"

- “You're funny. Do you think the gods communicate with us? This is not a fairy tale, boy. All of us, even this creature sitting by the fire, were thrown here with a single order. There was no help, no contact. The saint sometimes talks about visions of a hellish future if we fail. Damn, these stories give me goosebumps” - Zwei winced, and she spat on the ground – “Now you have three ways. The first is to come with us, quietly and peacefully, receiving an award after work. The second is to try to escape, lose a couple of limbs and complete the journey in a duffel bag. The third is to run away and keep hiding like a rat in a hole until it's too late to do something. The likelihood that you will die in any of the choices is high, I will not lie. But at least you will die with honor”

- “Hahaha” - Zee laughed hoarsely – “Honor? Yes, this world is full of psychopaths, fanatics and monsters! What honor are we talking about? Die for what? I have nothing! Life in this world is a complete ass and it's only getting worse. And where were you before? Why do you need me right now? Why didn't you start looking for me earlier?”

- “Well, I'll tell you ...” - She lowered her head and spoke quietly ....

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The man was sitting on a stone, looking at the rays of the sun, scattered over the ice of a frozen lake. The blinding light did not bother him, because he seemed dim from the very moment he woke up. Sight, hearing, were still with him. Weakened, empty. Tastes and smells remained in the afterlife, they will never return. How he wanted to feel at least a fraction of warmth, and not the eternal tormenting cold that pierces every cell of his body. Even the matted hair on his head was covered in a crust of crumbling ice. The nightmare seemed to have no end when hope arose.

A man in scarlet armor advanced confidently towards him with a drawn sword. The man saw much worse than in life, but now he saw more than ever. The inner glow of the blade told him that it was a threat to his half-life , his salvation and the path to peace.

- “Who are you?” - the man in armor asked sharply.

The man noted that it was an experienced warrior. His stance, his concentrated gaze. Good, maybe he can do it.

- “Nobody. A faded shadow. Lost Spirit of Haldmir” - He lifted the heavy ax with one hand, stuck the hilt into the snow, and began to rise. The ice covering his body cracked and crumbled, releasing a powerful body from captivity – “Let's not pull, warrior. Let's start our war”

The giant straightened up, looking at the small man. All of them were small. The tribesmen had already left, now there was no one to compare with him in size. It made him feel wrong, like he was fighting children. But that was the will of the owner, he could not disobey this order.

- “Be your way, fiend of darkness!” - The warrior shouted and raised his sword into the air.

The giant grabbed the ax with both hands, preparing to parry the blow, but the blow did not come. Instead, an arrow slammed into his temple and bounced off, landing on the ice.

The man grinned and charged forward. The small man skimmed across the surface of the lake, dodging the wide blade. He blocked the third thrust and the ax plunged into the thickness of the ice. Moving to the side, he raised the blade and was about to touch his leg, aiming at the tendons, as the giant's fist crashed into the edge of the blade, carving sparks from the numerous rings on his fingers.

The second hand of the giant has already pulled the ax out of the cold embrace and unleashed all the power on the enemy. The blow landed on the warrior's shield, throwing it aside and leaving a deep mark in the metal. Scarlet enamel crumbled, flying around.
At that moment, several arrows pierced his back. He looked around, but saw no one.

- “Not bad, but you will have to try harder to beat me! “-He laughed and attacked the knight.

A merciless flurry of blows left no room for a counterattack. He could only dodge. The arrows had no effect, getting stuck in the giant's leather armor. Only scratches remained on the frozen flesh. There was no point in this, he had not felt pain for a long time, he did not know fatigue. They should put in more effort!

A girl flew out from behind a large piece of ice, a fragile child, even by the standards of people. She ran towards him, getting closer every second.
The giant felt threatened, the glow of this girl's staff was brighter than the sun!

The arrow flew up to his head and exploded, engulfing his hair in flames. The knight seized the moment and struck with a vertical strike, splitting the shaft of the axe, plunging the blade into the body, slicing through dead flesh, biting into bone.

But the giant did not pay attention to this, it was necessary to block the girl's blow! His huge hand rushed towards her, almost reaching the goal, it crashed into a short man who took a blow to the torso.

He could have sworn that the man's bones had broken into pieces, piercing flesh and internal organs. Usually it was enough to kill someone, even from his tribe, but he bared his teeth and clung to the hand, twisting the joint. There was a crunch.

The girl used the warrior like a ladder and in a jump lowered the staff on the dead man's head.

Ordinary creatures would see only a shining stick, but his gaze saw a hammer woven from many threads. A deadly weapon, in the hands of a child.

Gathering what was left of his will, the man raised his head and took the blow on his face.

The shock wave swept across the ice, covering everything around with cracks, throwing up shiny fragments.

Peace, he felt that it was very close. A couple of blows and the desired freedom will be his!

In blissful silence, only one word sounded:

- “More...”

The darkness in his chest stirred like a wave sweeping away cities, leaving behind ruins and deserted islands. A tsunami of power took over his body.

Roaring, expelling clouds of decay, he broke free from the vise and stood up.

The mutilated body was not restored. The face lost its last semblance of a human, turning into a mass of charred flesh, pierced by fragments of bones. In the middle of this mess, a mouth was visible with the remains of crushed teeth.

It seemed to grow taller, obscuring the entire sky. The sun had gone down, leaving the cold wind to rule.

The giant raised his hands and plunged them into the ice, up to the wrists. At the same moment, the frozen surface cracked, releasing many arms of lightning-fast attacking heroes.

Ner , recovering from the blow, grabbed the Saint and yelled:

- “Retreat!” - His free hand clenched into a fist and struck at the icy hand, destroying the barrier.

They ran as fast as they could, cutting their way through, dodging countless attacks.

The entire surface of the lake has become a deadly trap. The ice floes rose up, split by a series of blows. Ice claws cut into the ice, as if trying to get out of there.

Like an explosion, something appeared from the depths. A terrifying likeness of a giant, as ugly as the master who summoned him. Half of the body, covered with thousands of ice hands, with spikes, slowly rushed towards its goal. Wanting to know the warmth of the flesh, the last moment of the life of living beings.

A giant hung from one of the spikes, its dull eyes vanishing to give way to a pitiful likeness, infinitely blue, searching for its target.

 

Three heroes gathered together, jumping from ice floe to ice floe. The shore was close, but still too far away. The knight stopped

- “Get her out! I'll hold it! “- He shouted and began rhythmically hitting the shield with his blade.

Ner understood where everything was going and accelerated as much as he could so as not to harm the girl.

A hail of arrows rained down on the ice monster. Some generated explosions, others flashes of magical fire. Piles of chilled flesh fell down, causing more splashes of water before sinking to the bottom. But it didn't do any significant damage.

The knight's blade was covered with sparks, their number growing with each hit. Like spray around a fire, they surrounded his figure. When he was almost out of sight, the blade burst into red flame. There was something terrifying about it, like fresh blood flowing upwards from a wound.

He raised his arm, tensing his muscles to failure. Armor plates held in place by leather straps parted and the mounts crackled. And the blade went down.

A vertical streak cut the lake in two as it passed through the giant creature. Bloody light erupted from the huge body, tearing it apart. Hands exploded, breaking apart, evaporating in streams of fire.

The giant who touched the flame fought in agony. Pain shouldn't exist for the dead, so why is it so unbearable! The sparks that touched his skin sank into the flesh, burning a winding path to its very center. It didn't go out. Neither water, nor Haldmir's eternal ice, could stop it.

Then his cry, embodied the last will. Spikes, arms, all the ice became like a storm. The blades rose from their place and rushed towards those who had wounded him. Shielding the whole world, the deadly avalanche was inexorably approaching.

The knight plunged his blade into the ground, summoning a pillar of bloody flame.

Ner threw the girl on the snow and exposed his broad back to countless blows. His flesh was pierced, several fingers vanished as the projectiles flew into the distance.

The saint threw all her strength to save his life. Healing after healing, she gave everything of herself for the sake of a man who was ready to die for her.

At this time, a fat man was running along the remnants of the ice cover, stumbling every now and then and regaining balance at the last moment.

Zwei looked at him . Under her feet lay a pile of flasks, once filled with potions. They were as effective as they were destructive. A man could stand one. Hero multiple. Bor drank a dozen.

And now, driven by boundless power, he fled to the enemy.

His stubby legs flexed, preparing his bulky body for a leap. Taking off into the air, he saw the whole picture.

Wounded heroes that hold on to the last of their strength. Zwei running to help them.

And this monster.

As they say, monsters are killed by monsters.

As he drew level with the giant, still covered in flames, Bor uttered the most hateful of all words.

- “HUNGER!”  - Black, viscous liquid gushed out of his mouth, forming the likeness of a wolf's skull. Human silhouettes, disfigured by this power, appeared from its surface. At the very tip of the nose, there was a girl with white eyes. Her mouth parted in a predatory smile. The skull opened and engulfed the giant, plunging him into a much-desired void.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Bor swam to the shore, letting out a stream of water from his mouth and hurried to his friends who had gathered near a small fire.

Gil lay in a snowdrift, surrounded by a cloud of steam. His heavy breathing was audible, even through the howling of the wind and the water that clogged the ears of the unfortunate swimmer.

Ner and Zwei sat next to El. She was delirious. Her muscles contracted, causing involuntary movements, her body writhing under the thin blanket.

- “Damn, what's going on with her?” - Ner held her by the shoulders, trying to stop the seizure – “I poured several healing potions into her, but they do not help!”

- “Hands off!” - Zwei yelled as she pulled off the blanket.

They froze. Brittle crystals grew up the leg. The veins showed under the pale skin, turning sky blue. And frost appeared on their surface.

- “Bor ... Do it ...” - Looking into his eyes, the elf said.

- “But…”

- “JUST DO IT!” - She started screaming.

- “Fine. Ner , hold her tight. And bring Gil's blade, we'll need it” - His face became extremely serious.

He put his index finger to the middle of her foot, feeling the burning cold. Liquid began to envelop the leg, the air filled with the soft sounds of the groans of many creatures.

- “Ready? On the count of three. Once. Two. THREE!” - He finished counting, a dull eye appeared on the surface of the liquid, and the leg disappeared. Immediately the snow was stained with scarlet blood. El screamed, trying to escape from Ner's strong hands.

Zwei grabbed the blade from the heart of the fire and pressed the orange surface against her stump.

The air was filled with the aroma of roasted meat….

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Now do you understand why we need you?" - Zwei said with hatred, breaking the arrow. Then she got up and disappeared into the woods.